National Debt Surpasses Debt Ceiling
The Treasury Department announced today that the National Debt has technically exceeded the National Debt Ceiling established by Congress. The total National Debt, as released by the Treasury Department, is $12.135 trillion, whereas the debt ceiling limits federal government debt to $12.104 trillion.
The Treasury Department has some “accounting tools” it can use in such instances, giving the federal government breathing room of about $150 billion. Otherwise, the federal government would not have the statutory authority to borrow money, possibly leading to a partial government shutdown.
The House of Representatives has approved a measure to increase the National Debt Ceiling by $290 billion, which amounts to about 6 weeks of federal borrowing. The Senate has not yet acted on the measure, but is expected to follow suit. Even if the debt limit is raised by the $290 billion, the debt problem will surface again in a few weeks.
The White House has projected that the National Debt will grow by approximately $1.5 trillion in 2010. Congressional Democrats had wanted to raise the federal debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion so they would not have to face this debt problem again before the November 2010 mid-term elections. However, Republicans and moderate Democrats have so far blocked this move.
If you are fed up with this rapid growth in government debt, please contact your Congressman and Senators and let them know you oppose the uncontrolled growth in our national debt.
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